FROM:
 kaisernetwork.orgDaily Reports.
> http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=15832
>
" Bush To Release FY 2004 Budget Proposal Today; NIH Prepares for
 SpendingReduction

"President Bush on Feb. 3 plans to submit a $2.25 trillion
fiscal year 2004 budget proposal to Congress that would provide a 2%
increase
> in NIH  funds, the Washington Post reports.  Over the past five years,
NIH
> eachyear has received between 14% and 15% increases in funds as
> part of a  plan to double the NIH budget from $13.6 billion in 1998.
The
> proposed2% increase for FY 2004 would affect tens of thousands of
> researchers who depend on NIH grants and over time could "make a
difference to
> millionsof Americans who are counting on NIH to deliver new
> treatments," the Post  reports.  Under the proposal, which would fund
NIH at $27.9 billion,
> annual 4% increases in funds for "cost-of-doing-research" promised
for  current grants would decrease to 1% per year, a move that could
> leave NIH  "hard pressed to maintain the funding of existing grants"
and
> force the  agency to "cut back sharply" on new grants, the Post
reports.  In
> addition, the number of nonbioterrorism research grants awarded by NIH
in 2004 would likely decrease to 9,487 from 9,724 in  2003.

> "It will be shocking.  The response will be fairy negative," Donald
> Poppke, the NIH acting associate director for budget, said.  However,
> Bush administration officials said that the proposed 2% increase
> in NIH  funds represents a 4.3% increase in funds for nonbioterrorism
> research.
> According to the Post, Congress often allocates more funds for NIH
> thanthe president requests, but the "pressure to hold spending
> growth" may  prevent the approval of additional NIH funds this year;
Sens. Arlen
> Specter (R-Pa.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) have introduced a bill
> that would  triple the NIH budget for the decade that ends in 2008
(Weiss,
> WashingtonPost, 2/3).
>
> Other Health Care Provisions
>
> Bush's FY 2004 budget proposal also will likely include a 10-year,
> $400billion plan to reform Medicare and provide prescription drug
> coveragefor seniors (Reuters/USA Today, 1/3).  Although neither
> Bush nor the  administration has released details about the plan, media
reports
have  said that the plan would establish a prescription drug benefit for
> beneficiaries who enroll in a new managed care program.  According to
> reports, Medicare beneficiaries could remain in the traditional
> fee-for-service program, enroll in regional HMOs that offer
> prescriptiondrug coverage or enroll in private health plans with
> "enhancedfee-for-service benefits" that include prescription drug
> coverage (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/30).  Bush's budget
proposal also will
> likely include provisions for:HHS:  The proposal would provide
> funds for  Medicare reform, as well as programs to help the uninsured,
ensure
the  privacy of medical records and improve the Temporary Assistance
> for Needy  Families and related programs (Ghent et al., CongressDaily,
> 1/31).

HIV/AIDS:  The proposal would provide $15 billion to African and
Caribbean
> nations to  combat HIV/AIDS over five years and $16 billion to fight
the
> spread of  HIV/AIDS in the United States for fiscal year 2004.Medicaid:
 The
> proposal would provide states with $12.7 billion over seven years,
> whichincludes $3.25 billion in 2004, for their Medicaid
> programs.

Vaccines:
> The proposal would provide $6 billion over the next decade to
> develop new vaccines against anthrax, Ebola, plague, botulism and other

> bioterrorismagents (Reuters/USA Today, 2/3)

The New York Times
> reports that Bush's FY  2004 budget proposal has a "strong chance" of
passing "largely
> intact,"as congressional Republicans have promised to "hew
> closely" to the plan.
> However, moderate Republicans in the Senate may challenge the
> proposal.  For example, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of the
Senate
> FinanceCommittee, has criticized Bush's reported plan to provide
prescription drug coverage only to Medicare beneficiaries who  enroll in
managed care plans (Andrews/Firestone, New York Times,
> 2/3).

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